Page 85 of Queen of Anarchy (Dirty Broken Savages 2)

Finally, Julian leans back in his chair. He lifts his chin before shaking his head. “No.”

Gage immediately goes tense, and so do the rest of us.

Fuck.

I don’t take my focus off Julian, but I see Ash put his hand on River’s leg out of the corner of my eye, probably trying to keep her from flying into a rage in the restaurant. She looks pissed but doesn’t speak.

Julian’s eyes dart between the five of us, and even though it looks like he’s outnumbered at the moment, I know it’s just a front. There are probably a bunch of his goons either outside the restaurant or inside, pretending to be regular diners.

Hell, probably both.

Before things can escalate, Julian jumps in again. “I’m not saying I won’t consider making a deal. I could be… persuaded to let Hannah go. I just want something bigger than what you’re offering.”

Goddammit. It’s the biggest thing we have, and we all know that. We can’t give him anything else.

“Do you have a suggestion?” Gage asks, voice hard.

“I do. I want one of you to marry my sister.” Julian looks around the table at the four of us as he speaks, his gaze flicking past River as he focuses on me and my brothers. “I want to connect our business interests by marriage.”

The table goes silent at that. Even the ambient noise of the restaurant seems to die out a bit, although I know that’s not really possible.

Holy fucking hell.

That’s just about the last thing any of us expected him to say. I was all prepared to be pissed off at him for telling us he wanted to trade one sister for another or some shit, but instead he wants… this.

Natalie doesn’t react at all, even though we’re talking about her as if she’s not even here. Her face is still icy and composed, but she doesn’t look surprised or pissed off at her brother’s statement. She clearly has no issue letting Julian speak for her and make this deal about her.

No one says a word for what feels like forever.

It’s a big ask. Way bigger than we were prepared for. But it would get us what we want. What River wants.

Fuck it.

“Sure,” I say. “Why not?”

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